Currently there are management solutions for Wi-Fi enabled devices. These solutions do not address devices that don't need access to a controlled network, such as cellular devices. Without a management solution for these devices system owners have no way to enforce policies. As a concrete example of the negative impacts this can have, consider the case of a business owner who has implemented a policy that blocks traffic to a specific website during business hours with the exception of lunch to increase productivity. If an employee has a mobile device with a cellular connection, he or she could access the specific website even though that site is blocked on the corporate network.
The harms caused by deficiencies in existing device management solutions go well beyond lost productivity. To illustrate, consider security threats to networks today. Any mobile device that is Wi-Fi enabled and also has a cellular connection could at any given time be connected to a business network and the cellular network simultaneously. This could potentially be exploited by a virus with a payload designed to detect when the mobile device is connected to a Wi-Fi network and a cellular network simultaneously. Once the virus connection criteria has been met, the virus will then initiate a scan on the network and look for any sensitive information stored on workstations or servers. Once sensitive information is discovered it is transmitted via the cellular connection to the person that wrote the virus. Now consider the implications if such an incident occurs on a major bank network. This is just one possible scenario out of many, but one that clearly demonstrates the risk with mobile devices in today's corporate networks.
Despite these significant and highly visible drawbacks to existing technology, system owners have no way to address the risk posed by devices which communicate via an uncontrolled network, such as preventing the loss of productivity, protecting network resources, or identifying devices. As a result, there is a need in the art for technology which addresses the drawbacks of existing solutions, such as by allowing system owners to manage devices that do not need access to a controlled network and/or by giving system owners the ability to enforce policies.